MIKE ZEISBERGER, QMI AGENCY

Still, the New Jersey goaltender, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Sunday, had a chuckle when informed of Claude Giroux’s explanation for nailing Dainius Zubrus in the head with no puck in sight late in the second period during the Devils’ 4-2 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

Giroux was riled up because the referees did not call a penalty on Brodeur, who the Flyers captain claims played the puck outside the trapezoid. After chirping with the officials and Devils forward Patrik Elias about it, a steamed Giroux took a run at Zubrus and hit him in the noggin with his shoulder.

“I’m not hitting anyone,” Brodeur said with a snicker. “I’m just trying to play the puck. Why is anyone mad at me because I play the puck?”

And, for that matter, how does that justify Giroux’s actions? Even if he was steamed at Brodeur, why take out his anger on Zubrus, a hit that earned Giroux a two minute minor for an illegal check to the head and, potentially, a call from NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan.

“For me, it looks like the type of textbook hit they’re trying to get out of the game,” Devils coach Peter DeBoer said.

DeBoer, who noted that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly were on hand at the Prudential Center for the game, was asked if he thought the Giroux hot warranted a suspension.

“That’s for people above me to decide,” DeBoer said.

Whether he is fined, suspended or gets off without a slap on the wrist, that Giroux would lose his cool in such a manner is a symbol of just how much the New Jersey Devils have gotten into the heads of the Flyers, a team many predicted would march through the Devils in a cakewalk after disposing of the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

You can dump those prognostications into the nearby Jersey swamps.

We’ve seen this from other Flyers before, but not Giroux. Not the captain. Not the kid who is one of the most skilled young players in the league, a class act in a professional sport that needs as many of them as it can get.

Through it all, the Devils refuse to retaliate. No matter how much the Flyers attempt to suck them into penalties or rough them up, the Devils continue to turn the other cheek, no matter how bruised or battered it might be.

“He hit me in the head, he got penalized, things happen,” Zubrus said. “There are always more hits in the playoffs. That’s all I’m going to say about it.

“We keep preaching we are not going to let them get us into stuff like that.”

For Brodeur, whose team now holds a commanding 3-1 lead heading into Game 5 in Philly on Tuesday, taking the high road is very difficult.

“When stuff like that happens with one of your teammates, it’s hard to see,” Brodeur said. “We all have pride. You never want to see that. But this is the way we have to play to be successful.”

These Devils have been the better team in all aspects the past three games. They outshot the Flyers 43-22 in Game 4 and were led by two goals off the stick of Zubrus, yet another hero in a long line of them for the Devils.

And, once the final horn had sounded, they congratulated Brodeur on this, his 40th birthday.